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Tell your legislator to support SB 840 (Kuehl)
Complete this form and click "Send This Message" to let your legislators know that YOU support SB 840 (Kuehl) which would provide Guaranteed Healthcare for all Californians. Your letter will be automatically sent to your legislators based on your address and zip code information. Thank you!
* Please take a moment to personalize the top section of the letter befor sending.
NOTE: Remember to check out GuaranteedHealthcare.org to see our YouTube video series "Real People DENIED Real Healthcare" where you can watch, tell friends, and tell your own stories about the failures of insurance coverage.
| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: Please Support SB 840 (Kuehl)
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
I am a (YOUR TITLE HERE) writing to urge you to reject the Governor's health insurance company-dominated proposal, in favor of SB 840 (Kuehl), a Medicare-like, single-payer, health care system for all Californians.
We all see the consequence of private insurance-centered health care--patients avoiding preventative treatments due to high deductibles and premiums they can't afford, or being discharged before they're ready, only to return sicker.
Why would you reward these companies by enacting laws that put them in charge of health care in California? That's what the Governor is proposing.
Here are just a few of the many problems with Governor Schwarzenegger's plan:
* There are no limits on premiums, drug charges or on pass-through charges to patients that may be imposed by hospitals, doctors or employers in response to the new taxes.
* Out-of-pocket/co-pay costs to middle-class Californians will run as high as $10,000 per family, resulting in increased medical debt. As you know, medical bills already account for half of all personal bankruptcies.
The Governor's proposal will increase medical expenses for Californians, and increase the complexity of the California health care system. It's a sell-out to the insurance companies.
We have an alternative which passed the legislature last year, one that is modeled on the Medicare system that has taken care of America's seniors for the last 40 years-- it's state Senator Sheila Kuehl's SB 840.
Here are just a few of the ways that SB 840 will improve health care for Californians:
* We won't lose our health care when we lose or change our jobs, because under this Medicare-like plan, health care is portable - our coverage goes with us.
* No Californian can ever be denied coverage. SB 840 is about health care, not insurance companies.
* We are free - really free - to choose our own doctor. And our doctor stays our doctor, even when we change jobs. That's real continuity of care.
Please don't be taken-in by those who say that private health care is more efficient. It's not. Thirty percent of every health insurance dollar Californian's pay goes to marketing and administrative costs. In contrast, Medicare administrative costs are only 3%. SB 840 will reduce the inefficiencies and waste that the insurance companies have created in our health care system.
I am counting on you to raise your voice in the legislature to condemn any proposal which leaves insurance companies in the deal. The families in your district don't need insurance - we need guaranteed health care!
Please sponsor and then vote for Sen. Sheila Kuehl's Medicare-like single payer plan, SB 840. Thank you for your service.
Sincerely,
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Campaign Launched:
May 03, 2007
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SB 840 (KUEHL) FACT SHEET
The California Health Insurance Reliability Act
Affordable Health Insurance for All Californians
Return To Our Healthcare Homepage
SB 840 (Kuehl), the California Health Insurance Reliability Act (CHIRA), would provide a single standard of quality health care to all Californians on a fiscally sound, affordable basis, and enables every Californian the right to choose his or her own physician, as it controls health cost inflation.
Reliable Coverage: Eligibility is based on residency, instead of on employment or income. Under CHIRA, all residents are covered. No California resident will ever again lose his or her health insurance because of unaffordable insurance premiums, or because he or she changes or loses a job, or goes to or graduates from college or has a pre-existing medical condition.
Affordable: The plan involves NO NEW SPENDING on health care. The system will be paid for by federal, state and county monies already being spent on health care and by affordable insurance premiums that replace all premiums, deductibles, out-of-pocket payments and co-pays now paid by employers and consumers.
Efficient: CHIRA eliminates waste by consolidating the functions of many insurance companies into one comprehensive insurance plan, saving the state and consumers billions of dollars each year. Currently it’s estimated that half of every dollar spent on health care is squandered on clinical and administrative waste, insurance company profits, and overpriced pharmaceuticals. CHIRA is based on a model that has been estimated to save California about $20 billion through reduced administrative costs in the first year alone.
Under CHIRA, California will use its huge purchasing power to buy prescription drugs and durable medical equipment in bulk. CHIRA is the sole health reform that enables California to use its full purchasing power to negotiate the deepest savings. It has been estimated that this model of systemwide bulk purchasing could save California $5.2 billion in the first year.
Most importantly, CHIRA will make our health care system more reliable and secure by stabilizing the growth in health spending; linking spending increases to state GDP and population growth, employment rates and other relevant demographic indicators. CHIRA will combine needed cost controls with medical standards that use the best available medical science, and place an emphasis on preventative and primary care to improve California’s overall health in a way that also saves billions of dollars.
High Quality: Under CHIRA, consumers have total freedom to choose their personal primary care provider. Health care providers and facilities will receive fair reimbursement for all covered services they provide.
CHIRA utilizes proven financial incentives that support the delivery of high quality care, including bonuses for providers working in rural or under-served areas. The plan invests in needed health care infrastructure such as electronic claims and reimbursement systems and statewide medical databases that improve health care quality.
Benefits: Coverage includes all care prescribed by a patient's health care provider that meets accepted standards of care and practice.
Specifically, coverage includes hospital, medical, surgical, and mental health; dental and vision care; prescription drugs and medical equipment, such as hearing aids; emergency care including ambulance; skilled nursing care after hospitalization; substance abuse recovery programs; health education and translation services, including services for those with hearing and vision impairments; transportation needed to access covered services, diagnostic testing; and hospice care.
CHIRA offers California a broad and clear vision for a remodeled health care system that will provide high quality, affordable and reliable health care for all residents.
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